France expects Israel to make "gestures" over its construction of settlements on land the Palestinians want for a future state, President Francois Hollande said in Jerusalem on Sunday.

His remarks came just three days after the entire Palestinian negotiating team resigned in protest over continued Israeli settlement building which is threatening to sabotage the U.S.-backed direct peace talks which began in late July.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted Sunday that the peace process with the Palestinians was not "frozen," but said he was waiting for Palestinian concessions to move the talks forward.

"They're not frozen. We're talking," the Israeli leader said on CNN's "State of the Union" program.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday decried what he called an "exceedingly bad" nuclear deal with Tehran, saying western powers risked "crumbling the sanctions regime," that has prevented Iranian nuclear weapons.

"I think the opposite should be done," he told CNN's "State of the Union" program, ahead of a new round of talks in Geneva between world powers and Iran beginning November 20.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is to visit Israel on Friday to discuss the Iranian nuclear talks and peace with the Palestinians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Speaking to his ministers, Netanyahu said he would also discuss the Iran talks with French President Francois Hollande, who arrives in Israel later on Sunday, as well as with Russian President Vladimir Putin when he travels to meet him in Moscow on Wednesday.

France will never tolerate nuclear proliferation, President Francois Hollande vowed Sunday as he arrived in Israel for a visit dominated by the dispute over Iran's nuclear program.

Hollande also made clear that the peace process was high on his agenda, saying France expected "gestures" from Israel over its construction of settlements in a bid to advance peace talks with the Palestinians.

Countries across the Middle East will want to acquire nuclear weapons if Iran is allowed to develop an atomic bomb, Israel's president told a French newspaper ahead of a meeting Sunday with his French counterpart.

Shimon Peres said he appreciated France's firm stance in negotiations earlier this month on Iran's nuclear program, adding that there should be "no let-up" in the international pressure on Tehran.

French President Francois Hollande is set for a red carpet welcome when he visits Israel and the Palestinian Territories this weekend amid renewed efforts by the West to curb Iran's contested nuclear program.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is "impatient" to meet Hollande, who arrives on Sunday in the midst of negotiations to resolve the impasse over the nuclear issue.

Israel and its U.S. ally have hit a troubled patch in their close relationship, caused by differences over Iran's nuclear plans and peace with the Palestinians.

In a highly public spat, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama are each seeking to directly address the other's public.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged France to stand firm in international negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.

"We hope France will not yield," Netanyahu said in an interview to Le Figaro newspaper due out on Saturday, on the eve of French President Francois Hollande's visit to Israel.

Israeli troops in the West Bank detained four Palestinian children aged five to nine years for more than an hour Friday with their hands cuffed, Palestinian witnesses said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said that troops rounded up some minors during rioting in the northern West bank village of Kfar Qaddum but held them only briefly.